Inuzuka Shiga
by AspectsOfEccentricity
Summary: Being reborn into an anime world after death is something I never really expected or wanted despite reading various fanfictions about it. It's fun when reading about other people's adventures but not actually doing it myself. SI OC Inspired by Silver Queen's DoS, ElectraSev5n's Vapors, and more. WARNING: Possibility of horribly mangled canon
1. 001 - Miracle of Birth

**001 - The Miracle of Birth**

Being reborn into an anime world after death is something I never really expected or wanted despite reading various fanfictions about it. It's fun when reading about other people's adventures but not actually _doing it myself_.

So. I died. How I died isn't important but the fact I was _freaking reborn as the fraternal twin sister_ to one Inuzuka Kiba kinda is. Especially since there may be people reading this.

...er. I seem to have broken the fourth wall. Hasn't even been a chapter yet. Meh.

Should I describe my birth? ...I don't really remember it much. I do know I probably repressed it. It would be _freaking traumatic_ to be pushed out of a random woman's _vagina_ as an _icky little meatbag_ of a baby.

Yeah. The miracle of birth, no?

So. Should I recount life as a baby? You sleep, eat, poop, scream, screech, and cry at random intervals. Mostly sleep though. Well, I probably _would_ have slept the majority of the time if it weren't for my new _loud like a freaking siren_ twin brother Kiba. It's horrible because we freaking share the same crib and when _brother dearest_ starts going... I DON'T GET TO SLEEP! ...the fact that Inuzuka are normally loud and boisterous, well...

It makes me wish I were a Nara instead. Or, you know, _in my freaking original world_. But of course, I just had to be reborn in the NARUTO universe. Yay me.

...oh my various deities. I was reborn into _NARUTO_. With ninjas. And bijuu. And many MANY _MANY_ horrible ways to die. I. Am going. To die. Painfully. If not in a mission, then in the Chuunin Invasion, and if not _that_ then in the Pein Slaughter or other Akatsuki incidents. But if I survive all that, then there's always the freaking _Zombie War!_

...I'm going to die _again_. Painfully.

I wonder if _this_ is why Orochimaru wants immortality...?

**-END-**

**AN: Our first story that we actually decided to post. Because we read many many SIOC fics recently, Bun got inspired with ideas and spilled them to Fox who then wrote some of the ideas down and began writing this. Bun wasn't very helpful, what with simply dumping her plot bunnies on poor Fox. Crow teamed up with Bun to make Fox post this. Dragon oh so generously gave her assistance with editing and acting as a very sarcastic sounding board.**

Disclaimer: We don't own Naruto or anything recognizable. So sad, but true.


	2. 002 - Did I Mention I Can Crawl Now?

**002 - Did I Mention I Can Crawl Now?**

Kiba and I are now a year old(physically). Since he learned how to crawl, the brat's been a little terror, going everywhere he can. I just sit there. Staring creepily at everything and everyone. Oh, and petting the puppies. They're adorable and fluffy. It's also quite fun to ride the bigger dogs around the compound.

Did I mention that I can crawl now? Because I can. And it was freaking difficult learning how to do so. But not as much as _trying to learn the freaking language._ Because, you know, they kinda DON'T USE ENGLISH. And I had a baby brain with baby senses. So stuff was kinda fuzzy sometimes. And I now have a short attentio-ooh, also Naruto was born around the time I was still figuring out how to think and move. It was a big event that even I noticed, being the easily distracted baby I was. Kinda hard to miss _TONS_ of people running around screaming, being suddenly displaced from my established comfort zone and mentally claimed territory(read: evacuated from clan compound to safe place). Oh and the ominous Kyuubi aura. Which was huge. And red. Angry. And confused. Or at least, that's what it _maybe_ felt like? I was kinda out of it.

Anyways. It was an eventful year. I am now a year old physically, and can crawl. Yes. Gaining the ability to control one's limbs properly is good. Very good. Soon, I shall be walking! ...maybe. Once I figure it out.

On another note, my cousins suck. Loud, rough-housing pricks. Don't they know babies are fragile? Geez.

Also, Hana-nee's awesome. So are the Haimaru bros. Saints among the squalor, they are. Keep the crazy chaotic cousins away, they do.

Mama-Tsume's also pretty awesome, as is Kuromaru. Kuromaru is like the extremely tolerant uncle who let's us play and push him around within reason. Mama's our primary caretaker who is very protective due to heightened instincts. She feeds Kiba and I, burps us, bathes us, and cleans up our... mess. Among other things.

Yeeeaaahhh... I should probably be working on the toddling and walking and talking in full and coherent sentences. Not happening any time soon. It actually is really hard because I don't exactly have the muscle memory or reflexes...

Ah well. I'll-Ooh! Fluffy!

**-END-**


	3. 003 - Baby Ninja Basics Centre

**003 - Baby Ninja Basics Centre**

Years passed, and now suddenly Kiba and I are six years old. Old enough to officially enter the ninja academy and that is exactly what we do.

Ahh, yes. The Academy. The place in which us children must go to learn stuff. Stuff about being a _ninja_. Supposedly. Though from what I remember of the manga, being a shinobi here is more flashy special attacks than actual cloak and dagger super sneaky ninja stuff.

Well, whatever.

Hana-nee was the one to accompany Kiba and I to the Entrance Ceremony since Mom was out on a mission or something. Now that I think about it, she's curiously out for lengthy periods of times... maybe she's a Hunter-nin?

Eh. Doesn't really matter. What does is that I'm now officially in the Academy for Aspiring Assassins. Or Baby Ninja Basics Centre. Maybe I'll meet the rest of the Rookie Nine!

Speaking of, I should either graduate early or late so I don't mess up the canon teams... if I graduate early, there's a risk of getting on Team Gai... I like my type of insanity and not the Youthfulness. But if I graduate late, I'll miss most of the action... hmmmm, decisions, decisions.

Eh. I'll worry about-no. I'll _think_ about it when the time comes. No need to stress out now. Hakuna Matata and all that jazz.

**^v^v^v^v^**

So apparently, it's preferable to separate twins in the Academy. Probably to prepare them for being on separate gennin teams.

I don't recognize anybody. They're all most likely nonexistent or background extras.

...what does that make me then?

Wow, depressing train of thought. Forcefully derail it!

What they teach noobs and first years in the Academy is... Booooooooring. I learned how to read and write when I was three! (Thank you Hana-nee!) And then I read all the stuff I could. Which, granted, is mostly about dogs and some ninja stuff like 'what is chakra' and 'how to throw kunai and shuriken without losing your fingers'.

Ugh. When can we get started on learning actual ninja stuff? History is nothing but propaganda, we don't really do science here unless it's poison or medical specializations, and maths is very basic to me here.

I _did_ manage to complete high school before I died after all.

The only classes that I might actually like are the taijutsu sparring(which doesn't start until third year among classmates/second year against teachers), weapons throwing and handling, and chakra involved classes.

The chakra involved classes don't start until the second last year(Academy fourth year). Or at least the ones involving actually _using and manipulating_ chakra don't. Because many people tend to drop out and go to civilian classes and the higher ups probably find it wise not to train the drop outs in their ways. For first years, all we do is meditation to find and unlock our chakra coils. If we can. Most don't until next year or so.

But, yeah, for now all we're 'learning' is how to read and write properly, basic history, basic geography(new stuff for me!) and _very_ basic maths.

IT'S BORING. Oh, and there's also the 'kunoichi class', which isn't really... Useful. Flower arranging and flower language? Uh, what? How is that useful?

I really really want to skip grades...

**-END-**


	4. 004 - First Year Classes Are Boring

**AN: Thanks to all those who favourited and/or followed! Bun hasn't had to bombard Fox with plot bunnies to make her write this. She did it all on her own. Which Fox almost never does...**

**Continual Disclaimer that applies to all of the story: We, AspectsOfEccentricity, do not own anything that people can recognize.**

**On with the story!**

* * *

**004 - First Year Classes Are Boring **

As previously stated, first year classes are boring. It's all blah blah blah, Sakura's explanation with big words and blah blah blah…

Whoa, wait what? Chakra theory? …I may actually need to listen to this.

I tuned in to Akito-sensei's enthusiastic rant(which sounded more like happy droning, if that's possible). "…people sometimes have chakra imbalances, in which the amounts of spiritual and physical chakra differ significantly…"

Chakra imbalance? Now that I think about it, _I_ probably have imbalanced chakra.

"…Generally, clans that specialize in taijutsu and other physically taxing professions have higher physical chakra than spiritual chakra. This allows them to be more active because of the higher amount of energy…"

Oh. As someone from a ninja clan that specializes in tracking and fighting, we have a higher amount of physical chakra, so we sort of have an imbalance skewed more to the physical…

But since I have a higher amount of spiritual chakra… Ironically, that would give me less of an imbalance and more stable chakra…

Curious. Very curious.

**^v^v^v^v^**

Taijutsu. Physical exertion. I used to hate stuff like that in my previous life. I was a lazy person. But in this life...

I was born an Inuzuka. Once I hit toddler stage, I had more energy than what I was used to. So I copied Kiba and ran around until I got tired or lost motivation an plopped on the ground near the closest dog.

The active upbringing of this life made me more fit than I ever was in my previous life. So it stands to reason that when the physical education classes, or taijutsu classes, started, I did much better than I expected. I was still kinda surprised.

We're taught the standard Academy katas during the first year and practice it repeatedly in all the first year taijutsu classes. Sparring with classmates doesn't come in until third or fourth year, depending on the classes. If the teacher feels the class is ready, some may even start peer-sparring in second. Practice-sparring against teachers starts in second year or late first, where we demonstrate our developing muscle memory.

But yeah. Apparently, I can kick ass. It comes from being a ninja clan kid. The Hyuuga branch kid and the Akimichi girl and a few others from minor ninja clans also kick ass. But the minor clan kids aren't as good as the big name ones.

We were showing up the civilian kids… I couldn't help but suspect some kind of prejudiced conspiracy. Or maybe that's natural, because we clan kids are genetically geared for it.

Eh. No matter. Natural selection and all that jazz.

**^v^v^v^v^**

"Boring, isn't it?" A voice behind me drawled quietly.

I didn't know if that was aimed at me, but I turned my head to look for its source anyway.

"Indeed, it is Sa-chan."

"Just look at those dumb things, Ya-kun. They're completely captivated by the lecture, propaganda accepted as fact that it is."

Despite what the text above may imply, it wasn't two people whispering to each other, but one girl creepily muttering to herself as she glared down at the desk before her. Jigoku Saya was her name, from a civilian family. According to other people, she's very creepy and or scary. Always talking to herself and gives terrifying glares at everyone else, as if everything else offends her. She also looks exactly as described in rumours, with long straight black hair, pale skin, dark brown almost black eyes, a pretty face even when scowling. All in all, she seems like an interesting person. Who is now glaring at me. And the rumours were right. Her glare _is_ terrifying. Like a mini-Snape, only female.

"What are _you_ looking at?" she hissed.

Refusing to be intimidated, I scowled back. "You're not exactly quiet, you know. Or subtle, acting like you have a split personality."

"You're noisy _and_ nosy! Piss off, brat!" she sneered. _Brat? If I recall, _I'm _older by a few months._ As for how I could possibly know that, there's a class roster thingy near the door ofthe classroom with name, birthday, and favourite candy, fruit, or vegetable on it. We also had to say our names, birthdays, and favourite fruit or candy for our class introductions at the start of the year. My intro was short and sweet; Inuzuka Shiga, July 7, mangoes.

I snorted and raised an eyebrow condescendingly, "technically, I'm older than you, Jigoku-san." Then I turned back to the front, where the assistant teacher continued to drone on about the glorious history of the founders.

With my Inuzuka enhanced hearing, I heard Jigoku huff and mutter to herself again. "Oh, if only you _knew_." Wait, what?

Incredulously, I looked over my shoulder back at her. "You're an insert too?" I whispered with either disbelief, relief, or something else.

She looked at me with wide eyes. "_Too?_"

"SHIGA-SAN! SAYA-SAN!" the assistant teacher, Oboeni Kui or Kui-sensei, barked. "Do you have something to share with the class?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but Jigoku beat me to it.

"I was trying to remember your name, sensei, and asked Inuzuka-san if she knew it but she didn't. It seems you're quite _unmemorable_, no?" Jigoku drawled. "I'm sure more people would pay attention to you if they knew of your… hobby, especially your _special friends_. I'm sure your wife would love to hear about it, especially if someone brings pictures."

Kui-sensei became paler with each word out of Jigoku's mouth until she ended it with a meaningful smirk and glare. _Dayum, that was nice!_

"You can continue your lesson now, sensei." Jigoku smirked. And continue his lesson he did, avoiding to look in the general direction of Jigoku Saya the entire time.

"Oi, Inuzuka."

I turned to look at Jigoku again. "Yeah? Nice work, by the way."

She actually smiled! It's because of the Magic of Friendship! "Thanks. And we _will_ be talking about the 'insert' thing later." Snape-glare again.

I nodded. "Lunch then?"

"Yes."

I guess you could say we're sort of friends now?

**-END-**


	5. 005 - Operation Whatev's

**005 - Operation Whatev's**

So I met another reincarnated person(that's a long name to type so we'll call us reincarnated peoples 'Inserts' instead).

If you read the previous chapter, then you'd know that her name is Jigoku Saya in this life. We're sort of friends. Ish.

I'm meeting up with Jigoku at lunch to discuss our… um, rebirth? Relocation of souls? Past-life recollection? Second Life(where be the bishies? XD)?

Anyways. I met up with Jigoku at the doorway after the rest of the kids went out to play. "So, I'll follow you then? 'Cause I don't exactly know a good place."

She nodded, "I do. Let's go. Make sure there are no tails."

"Aye aye captain!" I saluted. She snorted and started walking swiftly. I followed silently, keeping my eyes, ears, and nose alert for nosy people.

**^v^v^v^v^**

The place Jigoku led us to was a small dusty storage room on the third floor near the stairs leading to the roof. I glanced around the room and asked, "are we even allowed to be here?"

"No one's ever stopped me from entering before, so it should be fine. And keep your voice down, we don't want to be overheard," Jigoku whispered as she closed the door. She took a seat on the floor and I followed her example. We sat in silence for about a minute.

"I don't think we should talk about how we died or how we came to be here. We should discuss what we'll do concerning the canon." Jigoku suggested.

"Eh? Oh, sure. Okay," I agreed. _Not sure if I want to relive my death anyway. And what are the odds of us actually knowing each other previously?_

"How far in _Naruto_ have you read and or watched? We'd have to take into account both anime verse and manga verse," she inquired logically, tilting her head slightly.

"Err… read the manga up 'til the zombie war, the five Kage battle part. Read several fanfics and comments with spoilers though." I admitted, leaning back against a large box.

"Hm. I've seen a few fillers and most of the pre-Shippuden part of the series. I've read up until Itachi-sama died as far as I can remember," she said. "Then I got distracted by video games… Harvest Moon is _really_ addicting."

"…" I was somewhat dumbfounded. But then, I too recall playing various Harvest Moon games and getting horribly addicted. I had to make all my products the highest quality, unlock all that I could, etcetera.

"It is!" Jigoku defended.

"…Yeah, I know. I was just having flashbacks. ANB was fun though, customizing the layout of town and farm." I smiled, thinking back on the many hours I spent moving and building stuff.

We lapsed into a companionable silence. Then I broke it.

"Well, anyways, back on topic? Should we even interfere with the canon? Most of the stuff that causes the canon events happen long before canon even starts," I pointed out.

"True," Jigoku agreed. "And interfering may make things worse. Also, if we do alter events, we won't know what will happen next. Hm."

"So maybe we shouldn't interfere unless we know for sure it'll be for the better and without being suspected or caught. 'Cause if we show too much of our hand…"

"It would be detrimental to our survival, yes. So basically, so as long as it harms neither of us, do as you will."

"Err… I'm gonna simplify that to 'do what you want, just don't get caught or killed' or Operation Whatev's," I said. Then something hit me. Or rather something occurred to me, not literally hit me. "But you know, what if there are more of us?"

"More of us?"

"Yeah. More Inserts. People who were reborn with memories of another life," I explained.

"Oh. That would be… well, not unlikely, considering there are already two of us," she frowned thoughtfully. She thought it over for a few seconds before nodding decisively. "We'll say in contact and inform the other if we find any. Speaking of, we'll have to either pretend to be friends or become actual friends so that no one questions it. As such, you may call me Saya."

"Sure, makes sense. You'd have to call me Shiga then."

"Mm. Shall we head out to 'hang out' in public to establish our friendship?" Jigo-er, _Saya_ smirked.

"Sure!" I grinned. "…Can we go get food as our proof of friendship?"

"We might not have much time to have a full meal. But there is a small food stand a few minutes' distance walking, just outside the Academy on the south side. Did you even bring money?"

"Yup. Wallet's in my jacket." I patted the pocket holding my wallet. "You?"

"Of course I did. Let's go get food."

And then we both left.

**-END-**


	6. 006 - Ninken Partner

**006 - Ninken Buddy**

Today's the day! The sun is shining! The tank is clean! And we are getting-gaspeth! The tank is CLEAN.

Haha. Awesome movie, Nemo is. But seriously, something great happened today. I'd tell you to take a guess but the chapter title gives it away.

Kiba's already met Akamaru. I had yet to bond to a ninken yet. The other pups in Akamaru's batch were apparently incompatible with me. It's sorta like in Harry Potter 'wand chooses the wizard', only without the swishing to test.

How do Inuzuka find their ninken buddy? Or rather, how do the ninken pick their human?

Smell.

That's actually the extremely simplified answer. I don't remember the whole technical explanation. I _do_ remember it had something to do with pheromones (like with finding a good mate), deciding which of the two will be alpha in their mini 'pack', and a sort of test with mind stuff and pulling.

You know the trope in which Inuzuka can understand their ninken? It's actually true.

There's sorta a mental pull, like a magnet, between the shinobi and their possible ninken at first. Once the bond is confirmed and established, it eventually evolves into a 'telepathic' link or something. The ninja and ninken can communicate, share experiences and more stuff. Personally, it reminds me of the bond between Dragon and Rider in the Eragon series, or rather Inheritance series.

Usually, the shinobi and the ninken are immediately good friends from their first meeting. Usually.

Mine, however...

Well.

**^v^v^v^v^**

The date was December 7, exactly 5 months since Kiba's and my eighth birthday. After an Inuzuka's eighth birthday, they are exposed monthly to all the unbonded ninken pups between the ages of ten weeks and fifteen months.

On October 7, Kiba was bonded to a pup he named Akamaru. As I had yet to meet my ninken partner, I still check out the pups every month.

The longest time recorded for a shinobi to find their ninken is six months. Those who go over that time tend to not get an actual ninken but become either clan-civilians, with professions of vets or breeders, or become normal shinobi. Some even drop the Inuzuka name, but they are still welcome in the compound. We still recognize them as pack.

This is my sixth month. I hope I find a partner... I don't want to disappoint Mom and Kiba and Hana-nee. The Clan Head's child not bonding a ninken? That's kinda humiliating, sad, and... well, it's bad.

Enough depressing thoughts! I _will_ have a ninken partner! Since ALL the previous ninken were horribly incompatible and it's my last month, I was willing to take _any_ that were compatible at this rate.

That's what I thought to myself as an older breeder cousin led me, and me alone, to the communal kennels. Mom and Hana-nee are both out on missions while Kiba's out training with Akamaru. Such _wonderful_ moral support.

"You remember how this works, right?" Ashi the breeder cousin asked, startling me out of my thoughts. I looked at him, biting my lower lip worriedly, and nodded. We soon came to a stop outside the kennels' outer gate. He sighed and turned to face me.

"It's fine if you don't get a ninken, you know. You will always be pack," smiled cousin Ashi as he pat me on the shoulder. Was this supposed to ease my worries? It... didn't work. I smiled back tentatively. Or maybe it was a grimace.

He let me into the fenced area outside the kennels. I braced myself for the onslaught of smell, lack of _any_ sort of pull and disappointment-wait. Is that...?

**-END-**


	7. 007 - A Pure White Puppy

**007 - A Pure White Puppy**

_"You remember how this works, right?" Ashi the breeder cousin asked, startling me out of my thoughts. I looked at him, biting my lower lip worriedly, and nodded. We soon came to a stop outside the kennels' outer gate. He sighed and turned to face me._

_"It's fine if you don't get a ninken, you know. You will always be pack," smiled cousin Ashi as he pat me on the shoulder. Was this supposed to ease my worries? It... didn't work. I smiled back tentatively. Or maybe it was a grimace._

_He let me into the fenced area outside the kennels. I braced myself for the onslaught of smell, lack of _any _sort of pull and disappointment-wait. Is that...?_

**^v^v^v^v^**

I could feel something in the back of my mind. Maybe...? I put my nose in the air and sniffed. That... is a new smell. It's a good one too. I blinked.

"Anything, Shiga?" Ashi questioned.

"Yes, actually. It's recent. Like a few days old."

"Ah, so it's a new pup or a newly transferred pup."

He barked sharply. "Sora! New pups! Riku! New transfers! Umi! Back to the kennels!"

Three grown dogs split the gathered pups into three groups, then one dog herded one group of puppies back to the kennels.

"Older pups first, right?" I said, moving to the older puppies. I then proceeded to let each of the eight puppies smell me as I concentrated on the mental tug. Finally grasping said tug, I yanked it hard (accidentally! It was an accident! I didn't know I pulled the link that hard!) and one of the puppies from the new pups group yelped painfully.

Impressions of pain and anger and vengeance and **#'that hurt, idiot human!'#** and **#'I hurt you back revengerevengerevenge'#** flooded over to me across the link. I winced, hands flying to my head as I turned to the new puppies.

A pure white puppy separated from the group, growling(adorably). It looked more like an albino wolf cub or an arctic wolf cub, only it had golden eyes. For some reason, it reminded me of Sesshoumaru from Inu-Yasha...

If I get to name it, and if it's a boy, then I'll call him Sesshoumaru. If it's a girl, she'll be dubbed Moro for the wolf goddess in Princess Mononoke. Kufufufu, my inner anime/manga fan shall be sated.

Oh. There be confusion. I kinda broadcasted that over the mental link, didn't I? Oops.

I walked over to the now bewildered puppy and said sheepishly, "Aheh. Sorry about that. Didn't mean to pull so hard... so. Um, yeah. Nice to meet you. I'm Shiga, your potential partner... do you have a name yet?"

The puppy _glared_. And _dayum_, for a pup it was freaking terrifying! Or maybe it was just Killing Intent.

Cousin Ashi chuckled. "Names are a human concept, Shiga-chan. You can give him a name."

_SCORE!_ I thought gleefully, mentally fist pumping. I grinned creepily at the pure white pup. He, as Ashi just confirmed the pup was male, twitched and prepared to bolt. I swiftly scooped him up, holding him out in front of me. Then I made myself look seriously grave, which made Ashi look at me strangely.

As seriously as I could, I intoned, "By the power invested in me, by me, I now dub thee, Inuzuka Sesshoumaru! And from this day forth, thou shalt be known to all as Sesshoumaru! So mote it be!" Then I lost it and cackled like a madman, accidentally dropping the newly dubbed Sesshoumaru who started growling again when he hit the ground.

Then the little bastard attacked me with his sharp puppy teeth and growing claws.

**^v^v^v^v^**

And that, was how I met your mother.

**#'Shiga.'#**

Okay okay! Geez, no sense of humour, Fluffy-sama...

**-END-**

**OMAKE: Triple S Squad**

"Saya-chan! Meet my new partner, Sesshoumaru!"

Saya stared. "…You actually named him that. I don't know if I should be amused or horrified at your audacity."

"Hey!" I pouted, crossing my arms. "It's an awesome name! And it'll be easier to spot other Inserts since they'll probably react to the name. Unless they've never watched anime or read manga… And plus, with all three of us, we'd be the Triple S Squad! Shiga, Sesshou, Saya."

Saya facepalmed. Sesshoumaru simply looked at me like I was crazy, which may not be a completely false accusation.


	8. 008 - To Pull A Time Skip

**008 - To Pull A Time Skip**

Ah yes. The mandatory Kunoichi classes, in which all the aspiring kunoichi learn about _flowers and flower arranging._ Well, at leather I'm not suffering through this alone. Saya also grudgingly attends because the class is, as stated before, mandatory. As my ninken partner, Sesshoumaru has to be here too despite being of the male gender. Ha.

I don't really see the point of these classes... it's not like they can teach small girls seduction techniques or anything. Maybe they'll give us the Talk and how to prevent pregnancy and hiding the scent of blood during menstruation. Something _useful_, like special kunoichi infiltration and information gathering techniques.

But no. It's the art of flower arranging and the secret flower language that is taught to us. Yay.

Maybe I should get Sesshoumaru to be extremely disruptive so that we'd be kicked out.

**^v^v^v^v^**

I'm just going to pull a time skip over the rest of my days at the Academy because I don't remember anything interesting happening. Or rather, the author(s?) can't think of anything interesting to put here. Yay writer's block!

So I'm gonna go ahead and skip to graduation. Because I can.

**^v^v^v^v^**

So I decided to take the risk of being assigned to the Youthfulness and graduate ahead of the rest of my age group. Saya chose to purposely fail to get into the Canon year group, to keep an eye on them and note the differences she says. Kiba doesn't like that I'm going even farther ahead of him though. Mom approves, says it's good to see me taking my ninja life seriously. Hana-nee doesn't really have an opinion other than 'good luck, but if you fail, there's always next time'.

Naruto also tried to graduate early too, but we all know how that went in canon. If you don't... he failed a total of three times before the Mizuki Incident.

But anyways, I took the option to become a genin early. The exam was surprisingly easy.

First was the kunai and shuriken accuracy test. Using the blunt and unbalanced Academy standard weapons, I got an eight out of ten on the kunai and a seven on the shuriken.

Then the taijutsu portion. Which I totally owned. Sesshoumaru did nothing but sit there and trip people. Technically, he wasn't supposed to be there but I am Inuzuka. Our ninken are vital to our clan style so there. It's not cheating.

Next was the boring paper test. Which was pretty easy and not really useful in real life. I mean really. Who needs to know how to calculate the trajectory of shuriken, the history and speculation of how certain battles were epic and stuff? I mean, sure it might be good for infiltration... IN KONOHA! Not useful. If this is what Sakura scored great in, I can see why she was originally kinda useless...

Meh. After that came the ninjutsu portion. Bunshin and kawarimi?

Passed that. Made the required three illusionary clones and switched places with Fluffy-sama. Got my shiny new forehead protector.

Which reminds me, I have to dirty it and make it not shiny and not as reflective. Shiny is bad for tracking and stealth.

Back on topic, graduation. Those who passed get a week off before team assignments. We have to submit genin registration paperwork, including having a picture taken for identification. Like getting a passport.

After I do the above, I'm going to spend the rest of that week doing whatever I feel like. I'm going to kinda have an actual full time job with responsibility and won't exactly be able to constantly do what I like whenever I want.

I hate being considered an adult again. I never exactly mastered it before dying. I'll just wing it like I did before then. Hopefully I don't die young again.

**-END-**


	9. 009 - Assigned to Team YOUTH?

**009 - A****ssigned to Team YOUTH?**

A week after the Academy Graduation Test, the prospective genin converged in our once classroom for (hopefully) the final time. I took a seat at the back of the room and looked to the front.

Nakamura-sensei, teacher of the majority of the graduating class, stood up front and gave us one (hopefully!) final speech.

"Attention, everyone! I'd like to once again congratulate you all for passing the exam and becoming ninjas. Your journey is only just starting. There will be perils. You will have trials and tribulations. Use your heads, trust your instincts, _survive_. May the Will of Fire continue to burn in you all."

We were silent. Then Nakamura-sensei smiled. "And now for what you've all been waiting for! Your team assignments!"

People cheered. Sesshoumaru flattened his ears at the sudden noise. I wish I could do that too, block out the sounds by flattening my ears.

"Alright then. Team One: ..." I tuned him out. I didn't really need to know other people's teams so I'll just wait until I hear my name. But I prayed to any deities listening to please _please __**please**__! _Not put me in Team YOUTH.

"...uzuka Shiga! Umidori Takashi! And Anagura Kiyoshi! Your jounin sensei is Arashihi Raikou. Team..."

Oh okay. Don't know what team number I'm on but eh, whatever.

I gave the room a once over to see if I could spot my prospective teammates. And I couldn't obviously, as I was not a classmate or yearmate of theirs. Eh. We'll be officially introduced to each other later when our sensei picks us up later.

And now for a commercial break! Or lunch hour. Whichever you prefer. I'm getting food.

**^v^v^v^v^**

I met up with Saya during the lunch break. She greeted me with the following:

"So, were you unfortunate enough to be assigned to Team YOUTH?"

I replied, "Oh thank God, no. We got some unknown jounin, Arashi or something."

**#'Arashihi, Raikou. Team Four.'#** Sesshoumaru corrected.

_Ah okay, thanks. Wait._

"Team _Four?_ That's rather... ominous." I shuddered, recalling a superstition about the number four being related to death. I hope it's not a bad omen...

Saya nodded, "In certain Asian cultures, including Japanese, the number four is synonymous with death, due to their similar sounds when read aloud. It was believed that four-way intersections were where one could meet supernatural beings, usually the dead and those related to death. I'm not entirely sure. It's been several years even before Insert since I read up about it out of curiosity."

I gaped at her, shocked and impressed. "Wow. I stand by what I said before, 'You're a wiki, Saya!'. Still find that awesome."

**#'Indeed, it is amazing that she can recall random obscure things while you can barely remember what you had for breakfast today.'#**

"Mean." I pouted at Sesshoumaru. I didn't bother translating for Saya as she knows us by now and can pick up queues from our body language due to three years of constant exposure to us.

"You're just an easy target," Saya snorted. "Now, let's discuss. You're going to be a normal genin, don't get nominated for chuunin until The Exam. I'm going to try and get into your brother's class to keep an eye on the RK9 and get on a good team during that year or the one after. If you get a somewhat regular schedule, come find me so we can continue our planning and preparations."

**-END-**


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